Tony Barboza

LOS ANGELES -- Gray whales cruise through Southern California waters every winter, but this month the migratory giants have shown up so early and in such numbers that they are astounding many longtime observers.

LOS ANGELES -- Two Southern California boys were in the custody of their mother Tuesday after their father was accused of throwing his 7-year-old son overboard from a boat after the boy would not stop crying, authorities said.

This is shaping up to be the deadliest year in Yosemite National Park in recent memory. A San Ramon, Calif., woman who fell to her death Sunday from Half Dome was the 14th person to die in the park this year.

Haley LaFlamme, 26, was descending the dome's rain-soaked granite face using mounted cables Sunday when she slipped and fell 600 feet.

Yosemite typically sees five or six deaths by the end of July and 12 to 15 by the year's end, said Kari Cobb, a spokeswoman for the park.

An influx of visitors could be contributing to the surge in fatalities. Last year, the park had more than 4 million visitors for the first time since 1996. This year could bring nearly as many.

The number of times the nation's beaches were closed or posted with warnings because of polluted water jumped last year to its second-highest level in 21 years, in part because of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and heavy rains that swept pollutants into the ocean at an accelerated rate, according to a report released Wednesday.

The Natural Resources Defense Council found that contamination from oil, urban runoff, and human and animal waste continued to take a toll on beaches across the country in 2010, according to the report.

IRVINE, Calif. -- Maybe the guy just wants some company.

That's the speculation about a wild bald eagle that's taken up residence right outside the Orange County Zoo's bald eagle exhibit.

The bird of prey first appeared last weekend and has spent every morning and evening since then perched in a tree above the zoo's 6-year-old female bald eagle, Olivia. The two have been squawking back and forth all week, said Donald Zeigler, manager of the small zoo in Irvine Regional Park.

Bald eagles are spotted from time to time in the rolling foothills, oaks and sycamores surrounding the zoo, but never before has one taken such an interest in a zoo resident. Olivia is kept at the zoo because an eye injury prevents her from being released back into the wild.